FHB Ficlets
by Lyrical Soul
Summary: This will be a collection of FHB stories I have written. Not in any particular order but yeah enjoy them for they are cute.
1. Chapter 1

Nathanial Rhys Shepherd sat sternly on the foot of his bed, arms folded over his chest, his bottom lip stuck out and he looked rather serious. Addison was kneeling in front of him, she didn't know what to do, he was being stubborn, and a trait she insisted he had inherited from his father. The five year old was determined not to falter in his decision but Addison knew she could sway him. Laughter could be heard from downstairs; Derek was playing with their 3 year old daughter Charlie. Nathanial had stormed off upstairs after his younger sister had taken his favourite toy. She hadn't done it intentionally she was after all only three but Nathanial didn't like having to fight Charlie for his toys, and Derek had told him to just let her play with it and of course he did not agree with this decision.

"Come on dinosaur she's your little sister, she'll give you back your toy" Addison said looking into her sons green eyes, pleading with him.

Nathanial remained sitting with his arms folded over and didn't say anything. "Nate you have plenty of other toys to play with"

"But mommy Charlie took my favourite toy. I loves playing with that one and she wouldn't give it back" Nathanial continued to pout and his curly locks of auburn coloured hair covered his forehead. Addison brushed the stray hair away and held onto his hands. When her son was acting like this there was no way of getting through to him, he was going to be a handful in his teenage years.

There was a knock on the door frame, Addison turned around only to see Derek holding Charlie in the doorway. Derek gently put his daughter down on the floor and watched as she toddled over to her big brother's side. Nathanial looked away but she tugged on the hem of his shorts. Addison rose from her kneeling position and went to stand by Derek as they watched Charlie interact with her older brother.

"Derek do you have anything to do with this?" Addison whispered.

"No, Charlie was upset when Nate ran off and she wanted to apologise" Derek replied quietly as Nathanial helped his baby sister up onto his bed. Even though he was mad at her he still had the desire to look out for her. Firmly held in one of her small hands was Nathanial's toy, she placed the action figure in his lap and looked up at him, her big blue eyes looking into his. He tried to remain serious but his features softened up when he saw Charlie looking up at him. Picking up the toy in his lap he pouted slightly at his sister, she smiled and crawled into his lap.

"Tanial I's sorry for taking your toy" Charlie had never been able to pronounce her brother's name properly so instead she created her own shorthand. "I din't wanna make you mad, I just wanted to play with you" Nathanial was unable to stay mad at his younger sister any longer, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, the three year old reciprocated affectionately. Addison and Derek sighed, both amazed by their children's ability to resolve problems.

"Mommy hug?" Charlie looked over at Addison, her eyebrows arched high. Addison was unable to resist her daughters charm and moved over to the bed, grabbing both her children in her arms. Derek watched from the doorway and decided to get their attention. "What about me huh? I was just going to take you out to the arcade this afternoon but I don't know anymore" He pretended to be hurt and it worked because Nathanial pulled away from Addison and ran over to his father. His arms wrapped around his dad's waist and he looked up at him with a small smile. Derek placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

"We're going to the arcade are we?" Addison said standing up with Charlie in her arms.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaase mommy" Nathanial pleaded, he got down on his knees and proceeded to beg.

"He learnt that from you" Addison shot Derek a look and he chuckled. "Alright alright you got me, we'll go to the arcade but you need to clean up your toys in the living room first, both of you" Nathanial bounded out of his bedroom and down stairs, he was eager to go to the arcade. Charlie climbed out of her mothers arms and followed her brother, wanting to help him clean up so they both could get to the arcade sooner.

Five minutes later Nathanial and his sister joined their parents in the kitchen, both had toothy grins plastered on their faces. Derek looked down at them and couldn't help but smile. "All our toys a cleaned up" Nathanial said confidently, Addison arched an eyebrow and looked at him questionably. "Really, I'll think we have to inspect" Addison stood up and ushered Derek into the living room where both of them inspected their children's efforts.

"Okay this looks good; I think we can go now. Dinosaur can you please get Charlie's shoes on while Daddy and I pack the car?" Nathanial nodded and took his little sister upstairs with him to help her get ready. Addison and Derek both began getting things together to take with them to the arcade.

"Kids are you ready?" Derek's voice was carried upstairs and soon Nathaniel emerged from upstairs, holding Charlie on his back, she was giggling fervently as he carried his sister downstairs with him. Derek smiled and walked over to the base of the stairs to meet his son and daughter, he looked his son once over and his gaze stopped at his son's choice of footwear.

"Nate why are you wearing gumboots?" The bright red gumboots with spider-man printed on the side clashed with his Hawaiian printed board shorts and yellow t-shirt.

"They're my favourite pair and Charlie asked me to wear them" Charlie's brown pigtails bounced up and down as she nodded in agreement and Derek just rolled his eyes as he lead the kids out to the car.

As soon as the family arrived at the arcade Nathanial took the lead and ran inside, heading straight to the racing games, Charlie followed not wanting to be left alone and joined her brother in the racing games. Addison and Derek followed their children and watched as Charlie struggled to reach the peddles, Nathanial on the other hand was persistent and sat on the edge of his seat just so he could reach the peddles, didn't help much considering he could barely see over the steering wheel.

"Iss not fair daddy" Charlie turned around in her seat and pouted at Derek, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"What's not fair Gummy bear?" He was intrigued by what she had to say, she sat back down in her seat, and the pink tutu she was wearing bunched up around her legs. Addison couldn't get her to change into anything more practical so the tutu had remained on.

"Tanial is gonna win coz he can reach the peddles" Derek looked off to the side as if to show that he was thinking of a solution to his daughter's dilemma. Derek picked Charlie up and sat down in the racing chair with her in his lap. "Alright Gummy bear you steer the car and I'll push the peddles"

Charlie nodded and her focus changed to the game, her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth and her head lurched forward as she began to concentrate. Every time she crashed the car she would let out a shrill squeal. Nathanial looked over at Derek and Charlie who were now winning and he looked over at his mother for assistance. She understood immediately, his look was one that he had inherited from her. She sat down behind him and pulled him onto her lap, she took over control of the peddles and he began driving.

"Hey that's not fair he could already reach the peddles" Derek exclaimed.

"What's wrong Dr Shepherd afraid that we're going to beat you" Addison's competitive nature began to shine.

"That's not going to happen Addi, you know I'm a better racer than you" Even thought Charlie was intent on driving she still nodded her head in agreement to what Derek was saying. Nathanial stuck out his tongue and blurted at his younger sister, Addison poked him in the side of the ribs and he went back to driving, realising that taunting her wasn't the right thing to do.

"Well just have to see about that, Dinosaur and I are going to win" With that both teams went back to driving competitively, the race soon finished and Addison and Nathanial did in fact win. Charlie was about to cry but Derek began tickling her when he saw her once enormous grin suddenly drop into a frown. Her laughter erupted and he carried his daughter on her shoulders. Nathanial received his tickets from various games and decided to be very noble; instead of buying the soccer ball he had wanted he bought Charlie a stuffed SpongeBob SquarePants teddy.

Addison commended her son for his generosity and decided that a round of fudgesicles was in order. As the family proceeded to walk around the arcade, Charlie slowly working her way through her fudgesicle on Derek's shoulders, they came to the infamous Dance Dance Revolution game. Nathanial raced over to the game and started jumping around on the dance mat. Charlie began to squirm in Derek's grip and he put her down, wiping the chocolate off her face with a napkin before she joined her brother on the opposing dance mat. Addison approached the game put a dollars worth of coins into the game. The screens flashed and instructed the children, Nathanial took the lead and began stomping his feet on the appropriate controls.

Charlie tried to copy her big brother but she was finding it harder, her legs were a lot shorter than his and therefore she had trouble reaching some of the controls. She would have to run around the dance mat to reach some combinations but she was having fun. Both children weren't particularly good at the game, they would occasionally get perfect dance combos but generally speaking this game was better left for people with longer legs. Eventually their credits ran out and both Nathanial and Charlie were out of breath, their energy stores were running low and they needed a rest. Addison was ready to pick Charlie up when Derek took her by the hand and lead her onto the dance mats.

She looked at her husband quizzically when he paid for another game. "Derek what are you doing?"

"Beating you at Dance Dance Revolution" The J-pop began to play and Derek fumbled over the dance moves that the screen prompted. Nathanial and Charlie stood watching as their parents began playing the game, Addison was still hesitant but she wasn't about to let Derek win so she began nimbly moving around the dance mat.

"Oh if you think you're going to beat me then you are sorely mistaken" Derek was well aware of his wife's competitive nature and her tendency to become overly passionate when posed with a challenge. He would look over at her every now and then and smile, he loved the way her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth, the same as Charlie's did when she was concentrating extremely hard.

"Go Daddy! You can win!" Nathanial roared as he now stood behind his father's dance podium, Charlie raced over to Addison's side and was doing her own versions of the dances. Time was counting down and Addison was only just in the lead. They weren't outstanding at the game but then again they weren't half bad. Neither of the world renowned surgeons were used to dancing in this manner, so fast and random. They definitely would not be repeating these dance moves on the dance floor.

"C'mon Mommy you're nearly there!" Charlie squealed as she laughed at the sight of her parents playing the addictive dance game.

"You won't get away that ea-" Derek was cut off when he heard Addison start yelling.

"Haha I win! You lose! Told you that you would be sorely mistaken" Addison began doing her victory dance, picking up Charlie and spinning her around as she did so. Nathanial looked at his dad for a sign of reaction and both father and son looked each in the same way. As if to say 'they're nuts'. Derek stepped off the dance mat and took his son's hand and waited for his wife and daughter to finish boasting.

A stop at McDonalds and an ice cream trip later a sleeping Charlie was placed into the back seat of the family car alongside her irritable brother. Nathanial always got irritable when he was tired, it wasn't a regular occurrence so much these days but every now and then Addison and Derek would be left to deal with the temperamental five year old. When the family finally arrived home Derek took Charlie upstairs to her bedroom while Addison wrestled with Nathanial who had fallen asleep in the car on the way home. "Nate we're home, wake up sweetie"

She ran her fingers through his hair gently and he began to stir, his eyes flickered open moments later and he rubbed his eyes groggily. His lips contorted into a grumpy frown and he nodded his head in disagreement. "I guess I'll have to carry you inside then" Addison sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt and picked up her son and carried him inside. Derek came downstairs just as Addison was coming in, he moved out of her way and followed her upstairs to Nathanial's room.

"Didn't he feel like walking?" Derek asked as Addison laid Nathanial down on his bed, pulling the superman covers over his small body. His spider-man gumboots placed at the side of his bed.

"Why did you let him wear those?" Addison said closing his bedroom door on the way out. "And you know how he is when he's tired, just like you are"

"Charlie asked him to wear the gumboots, and hey I'm not that bad when I'm tired" Derek said defensively, placing one hand on his chest to protect himself.

"Well you're not the one who has to deal with you when you're tired. It's only a phase, I hope, he is not wearing gumboots on his first day of school"

"He'll find some way to wear those boots. Today was fun" He smiled at his wife as they headed downstairs to the living room to relax.

"It definitely was, beating you at video games is fun" She placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"You know I'm going to buy Dance dance revolution now so I can practice and beat you" His hands held her around the waist and he kissed her again.

"That's what you think. The truth is Dr Shepherd, I win, at everything"


	2. Chapter 2

The weather was warm and Addison and Derek were enjoying a quiet Sunday morning sleeping in. That was until Charlie came running into their bedroom. In one of hands she clutched plush panda teddy that went by the name of Sir Sansmurf , the bears plush body bounced up and down with Charlie's movements as she scrambled into her parents bed. Addison rubbed her eyes and sat up tiredly, opening her arms to invite the three year old for a hug. Derek rolled over and pulled his pillow over his face, he continued to snore and Charlie just giggled, Addison kissed her daughter on the forehead and began to play with her soft brown curls. "Daddy makes funny sounds" Charlie said grabbing a lock of Addison's red hair and examining it closely.

"He sure does Gummy bear, your brother makes the same sound" Addison watched as her daughter's tiny fingers traced the outlines of her hair.

"I do not make funny sounds when I sleep" Derek grumbled beneath the pillow. Charlie wormed her way out of Addison's grip and crawled over to her father's side of the bed, climbing on top of him she began bouncing up and down on him, Sir Sansmurf hitting his side every time her arms came down. Derek groaned and threw the pillow of his face, his hands wrapped around Charlie's waist and he lifted her up and began tickling her. Her high pitched laughter filled the room and Addison just smiled. She got out of bed and retrieved her robe and both Derek and Charlie stopped to watch her for a moment.

"Where are you going mommy?" Charlie asked her lips forming an innocent pout.

"Downstairs to start breakfast, Nate will be up soon and you know he likes his cheerio's" Addison left the room and Derek continued to play with Charlie, both laughing at each other.

While Addison was downstairs Nathanial soon stumbled down the stairs, the legs of his Spider-man pyjamas were askew, one rumpled underneath his knee, his hair was up at all ends and as he yawned Addison turned around and smiled. He was too cute; hanging loosely in his right hand was his Spider-man action figure, which he insisted he take everywhere with him. The oldest of the Shepherd children climbed up onto a stool at the counter and rested his head in his arms. Addison slid his frog shaped bowl over to him, his favourite breakfast cereal filling the bowl. Nathanial's eyes looked up from his arms and he looked at Addison, she ruffled his hair and placed a kiss on his temple, he sat up and began to eat his breakfast cereal silently.

A few minutes later Derek came rumbling down the stairs, Charlie thrown over his shoulder, her giggles muffled by her small hands. Addison looked up at them quizzically and Nathanial turned around on his stool smiling. "Addi I can't find Charlie, I think I've lost her" Further giggles could be heard coming from the three year old.

"Derek I hope you didn't lose her, we can't exactly replace her" Addison placed her hands firmly on her hips, Nathanial looked back and forth between his parents, unsure of what to think, he knew where his sister was and he wondered why his parents couldn't see her. Charlie's legs soon began to kick against her father's chest and he ignored them, all until her laughter became louder when he started tickling her feet.

"I'm right here Daddy!" She squealed, Derek pulled her off his shoulder and looked at her in surprise; he kissed her and put her down on the floor. Addison put two pop tarts in the toaster and turned the coffee pot on. Nathanial hopped off the stool he was sitting on and walked over to his sister. They did their morning ritual, which was to partake in their secret handshake. A handshake they had developed on Christmas the previous year and both Addison and Derek didn't think it would stick but they were surprised at their dedication.

"Mommy and daddy are silly, c'mon sis lets go watch cartoons" Charlie nodded in agreement and took her big brother's hand and followed him into the living room. Derek looked at Addison, and she looked back at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "He just called us silly, we used to do the same thing with him" Derek said still surprised.

"Our little man is growing up, the same tricks don't work on him anymore" Addison said with a sigh, a little sad at the prospect of Nathanial growing up, but she was relieved that he wasn't going to college for another 14 or so years.

Later that afternoon the kids were becoming restless by confinement the house caused, the heat wasn't helping either. Addison had gone to the hospital for an emergency surgery and Derek was left with the two kids. Charlie was whining and Nathanial was making a lot of unnecessary noise, Derek was close to breaking point. "Please Charlie baby just relax and Nathanial can you stop with the noise" The five year old only stopped for a short period of time and Charlie continued to whine and pull at her clothes. Derek rubbed his forehead and tried to formulate a plan to get the kids to be quiet.

"Alright kids, upstairs now" Nathanial stopped what he was doing and eyed his father, trying to sense the seriousness of his statement. From the look the boy could see in his father's eyes he could tell he was serious, Nathanial took the initiative and picked up his baby sister and took her upstairs with him. Derek was thankful for his son's maturity at times.

Once upstairs the kids waited on further instructions from their father. "Alright, you guys need your bathers, Nathanial you know where yours are and I'll take care of Charlie" Nathanial nodded and ran off to his bedroom, climbing on one of his miniature chairs and using it to give the height needed to reach his top draw.

In Charlie's mauve coloured bedroom Derek rummaged through her draws for her bright yellow bathing suit. Charlie had occupied herself with her numerous dolls and wasn't paying attention to her dad's muttering. After messing up several of her drawers he finally revealed the bathing suit to Charlie. She put her dolls down and pouted grumpily, she looked exactly like Addison when she did that and Derek couldn't help but smile. Charlie had issues with changing her outfit, she was very stubborn when it came to putting clothes on at all, and she preferred to wear minimal clothes a phase that most children had gone through. Derek and Addison had been thankful to not have gone through that phase with Nathanial but with Charlie they weren't as lucky.

Derek struggled to just get Charlie's pj top off, she was continuously squirming and wriggling which made it harder and Derek was losing patience. When he finally got Charlie's pants off she ran away, now only dressed in her diaper she was running around the house excitedly. Derek was not in the mood to chase her but the only way she was going to get into her bathing suit was if he could catch her. As Derek went downstairs he saw Charlie's diaper abandoned on the floor, he picked it up and began to search, and eventually he found her sitting on the couch watching Dora the Explorer.

"Gummy bear if I give you a Popsicle will you get dressed in your bathers for me?" He knelt down in front of her and held up her bathing suit in front of her. Her nose scrunched up but it appeared she was in deep thought, a minute later she nodded her head vigorously, he gave his daughter a hug and then proceeded to dress her into the one piece bathing suit. Afterwards he carried her into the kitchen and gave her the Popsicle he had promised her with. Nathanial came running down the stairs in just board shorts and flip flops and waited in the kitchen for Derek to tell the kids exactly what was going on.

"Okay Dinosaur and Gummy bear we are going to go outside and play in the sprinkler" The brother and sister duo looked at each other with big grins then began to clap excitedly. Derek knew the kids loved playing in the sprinkler and considering the weather he figured now was the perfect time. Leading the children outside he took out the slip n slide mat and laid it out on the grass, the kids sat on the deck and waited for everything to be set up. It wasn't long until the sprinkler was on and the slip n slide was up and running.

Setting up a deck chair on the decking he sat down with a book and kept an eye on the kids who were dancing around the water. Unsure if they were ready for the cold sensation, Nathanial was the brave one and jumped into the water first, he screamed playfully as the cold water hit his skin; Charlie didn't want to be left alone so she soon followed her brother's actions. Nathanial grabbed his water gun and filled it up at the tap then began pumping it slowly, Charlie watched him from a distance hoping that he wasn't aiming for her but when a squirt of water came her way she squealed and began to run around the backyard.

Nathanial approached his younger sister; he held the gun by his side and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Hey sis think we should shoot daddy?" Charlie was quick to nod in approvement of the idea and the two mischievous children soon went about getting their father wet. The children approached their dad with full innocence in their eyes, Derek hadn't seen them coming, and he was far to enthralled by the book he was reading. It was too late for him to shield himself because in mere seconds a surge of water had hit him in the head, he looked at his son in shock but both children weren't fazed and continued to laugh.

"Hey no hitting the innocent bystander, keep the water away from me" Nathanial decided it was probably in their best interests to do as their dad had said and keep the water from him. However it didn't change the fact that it was still highly amusing, the children ran off to the sprinkler and continued to play. Nathanial was the first one to take a dive onto the slip n slide, he slide down the wet mat on his stomach, his face sprayed with water, his auburn hair spiked up in all directions. Charlie waited patiently for her brother to finish his turn before she had her go.

It was a first time for her, and she had convinced herself she was brave enough to tackle the mat. Her philosophy was if her brother could do it then so could she. Placing one foot forward on the slipper piece of plastic she wobbled around as she continued to walk along, her legs didn't hold her for long and she was sliding down the mat on her bottom, Nathanial waited at the end to make sure she was okay. The children continued to play on the mat, Nathanial's moves becoming more daring as he went on. Charlie tried to imitate her big brother's moves but was too scared to go through with them half the time.

The 5 year old stood confidently at one end of the mat, his younger sister standing behind him. Moving a few steps back he took a small run up and leaped onto the mat, sliding down the mat on only one foot he balanced himself with his arms. He would wobble every now and then but he did not fall. Charlie watched in amazement and decided it was time she be brave like her brother. The three year old pumped her fists and mimicked his actions, her balance wasn't quit as good as Nathanial's and she fell off the mat and tumbled onto the grass. Nathanial rushed to her side and kneeled besides her, she sat up and examined her knees, in amongst the grass stains was a red wound and she bottom lip began to tremble, tears soon ensued.

Nathanial wasn't sure what to do and Derek had fallen asleep in his deck chair, the older sibling began pulling silly faces in a hope to cheer his sister up, she smiled weakly but continued to cry. In that moment he thought of an idea, "Hey Charlie I'll be right back" She nodded in amongst her sobs and watched as her older brother ran inside and disappeared. Nathanial soon reached the bath room, grabbing a stool he stood on top of it and reached the medicine cabinet. He wasn't allowed in the medicine cabinet but he knew band-aids were in there and he needed to make his sister feel better. The cabinet door swung ajar and he grabbed the box of Simpson's themed band-aids and ran back downstairs and outside to his sister's rescue.

Charlie was still crying and he came over clutching the box of band-aids tightly. Sitting down opposite her he reached into the box and retrieved two band-aids. "It'll be okay" He reassured her as he stuck the band-aids over her grazed knee, her crying stopped and she still frowned. He handed the box of band-aids to Charlie and she took one out and stuck it on her brother's forehead. He smiled and stuck another on the side of her face. The brother and sister duo began sticking bandaids all over each other. The accident caused by the slip n slide soon forgotten.

"I love you Tanial" Charlie exclaimed as she threw her arms around her older brother.

"I love you too sis" Nathanial hugged her back and they went back to playing in the water.

An hour or so later Addison came out onto the decking, she looked over at Derek and smiled, Nathanial and Charlie were still covered in band-aids but were not playing a came of tag around the backyard. Charlie saw her mother and came rushing over to her, Addison caught the little girl in her arms and didn't care that she was getting saturated in water. "Gummy bear what's with all the band-aids" Addison looked at her daughters face and then all over her body.

"Tanial fixed my ouchie and then we stuck dem on eachoter" Nathanial joined her mother and sister on the decking and took a seat in one of the empty deck chairs.

"Nate you got the band-aids for your sister" The five year old nodded and Addison placed a kiss on both of her children's heads. "What do you guys think? Should we wake up daddy and get him to cook bbq?" Charlie and Nathanial's eyes lit up and both of them nodded. Derek was unsuspecting of what was going to happen but one thing was for certain, that day had been tiring.


	3. Chapter 3

Addison, Derek, Charlie and Nathanial all sat patiently in the waiting room for the paediatrician's, the kids were having their physicals and Charlie needed her shots. As they were called into the doctor's office Charlie amused herself with the various toys situated in the corner while Nathanial had his routine physical. Derek sat with Charlie while Addison spoke to the doctor, next up was Charlie and she was going to be more of a handful. Nathanial was given a lollypop in reward for his good behaviour and he sat obediently on a chair as Charlie was lifted onto the exam table.

Minutes later her shrill cry filled the room and Addison and Derek were instantly rubbing small circles on her back, Nathanial hated to see his baby sister cry so he jumped down from his seat and began making farting sounds with his hands. Addison looked at her son in disbelief but Charlie soon stopped crying and began to giggle, while Addison didn't approve of her sons behaviour she was glad that he had managed to get his sister to stop crying. Derek just chuckled and handed his daughter a lollypop which she soon found great interest in. The doctor gave both the children a clear bill of health and wished them luck; the family exited the paediatrician's office and were greeted by Bailey. "Well hello Nathanial and Charlie"

"No one ever greets us first these days, everyone loves our kids more than us" Derek said as Nathanial and Charlie both waved at Bailey.

"Well you're kids are far cuter than you" Bailey said smugly and Addison just laughed, Derek pretended to be hurt but their conversation was interrupted by the familiar sound of both Derek and Addison's pagers going off.

"It's an emergency, Miranda can you take the kids til we get back" Bailey nodded and watched as both Derek and Addison ran off. Nathanial took his sister's hand and they followed Bailey on what seemed like an adventure.

After a stop in with two of Bailey's patients she had rounded her group of suck ups at a nurse's station and was ready to assign them to further tasks. William, Miranda's six year old son seemed excited to see Nathanial, whenever those two boys go together they were inseparable and always caused a lot of trouble. "Alright my suck ups, we have two new additions to the crew, Nathanial and Charlie Shepherd will be under our watch this afternoon. Karev and O'Malley you have Nathanial and William down in the pit with you, Yang you get the pleasure of looking after Charlie"

Cristina went to open her mouth but Bailey gave her a daring look and she immediately stood down. Alex rolled his eyes and looked at Nathanial who was walking over to them, he remembered having to look after him once when he was three, he was a handful then and he hoped he was better behaved now. Charlie skipped over to Cristina's side and Meredith and Izzie just laughed at her. Cristina glared at her before they group disbanded and went their separate ways.

Down in the pit O'Malley and Karev were busy with sutures and on top of that they had to make sure William and Nathanial didn't mess around, which was proving to be quite challenging. Nathanial and William had managed to find some fun 'toys', nothing dangerous but certainly messy. William had found a roll of bandages, needless to say they soon figured out a good way to use the bandages. Nathanial unravelled them and began wrapping them around William; William did the same with another roll of bandages. By this stage both boys were now covered in bandages, resembling mummies. Alex and George had yet to notice what the boys had done.

They remained quiet and soon stumbled across some gauze which they were sticking on each other; both boys had a brain wave and knew exactly what to do next. The boys snuck up behind Alex and quickly slapped gauze on his back; the doctor turned around and looked down at the boys, with a far from impressed expression. The boys noticed the expression and looked at each other with a scared look before dashing in opposite directions, bandages flailing behind them. "O'Malley you go that way" Alex ordered and both the surgeons abandoned their patients to retrieve the boys.

Nathanial and William had met up and found a good hiding spot; they kept a look out for Alex and George and would every now and then cover their mouths to stifle laughter. "We got em good" William exclaimed, his head pivoting in all directions looking for any signs of the surgeons. Nathanial nodded fervently, they had removed the bandages and thrown them into an empty room on their escape and now were huddled under an empty gurney. "What are you two doing under here?" The boys took a deep breath but soon relaxed when they noticed who it was.

Preston Burke was kneeling in front of the two boys, looking at them with a bemused look on his face. He adjusted his glasses and extended his hands for the boys to help them out from under the gurney. "We're hiding" Nathanial said brushing off his shorts, William smiled at Burke, who he knew to be a close family friend and was not scared of him.

"Who are you hiding from Nate?" Burke was well acquainted with both the boys and had met them on several occasions. Mostly at family barbeques at the Shepherd residence and he knew that when these boys were left alone together they could wreak havoc.

"Dr O'Malley and Dr Karev" William gasped and rushed behind Burke's back when he saw Alex and George running down the halls, they soon slowed to a stop when they noticed that the boys were with Burke.

"O'Malley, Karev, how nice of you to join us. Now may I ask why is it that you let these two boys run off?"

"We were in the pit, doing sutures and they got into medical supplies and were running around"

"How hard is it to keep two boys aged 5 and 6 in check? Seriously you are surgeons they shouldn't be that hard to handle. Keep a better eye on them otherwise I'll have to tell Addison and Bailey that you let their sons alone in the presence of dangerous medical equipment"

"Yes sir" O'Malley said, Karev nodded and glared at the two boys who had stopped hiding behind Burke's back. Burke ushered the boys over to Alex and George and the four of them soon went walking back to the pit.

Meanwhile Cristina was having trouble controlling Charlie, who was on a sugar high after that lollypop. The three year old had been bouncing around and Cristina was unable to keep up with her energy, and now Charlie was begging the intern, who didn't look after kids for a piggy back ride. "No, I said no Charlie" The three year old fell to the floor and began pouting, if Nathanial was here he would have given her a piggy back ride, or Derek would have but she had been left with the one doctor who wasn't child literate.

Cristina didn't want the child to cry and so far Charlie's bottom lip was trembling, so she gave into the little girls demands. Sighing she crouched down and motioned for Charlie to hop onto her back. Charlie wasn't surprised that she had gotten her own way; it worked all the time with Derek, for a three year old she was already the master of persuasion, the only one she couldn't fool was Addison. She climbed onto Cristina's back and held her shoulders, she had already started giggling by the time Cristina started walking.

As the two walked down the halls Cristina was intercepted by Izzie who was laughing at the sight of Cristina and Charlie. "Cristina are you giving Charlie a piggyback ride?"

"What does it look like Izzie?" Cristina snapped as she began to jog down the hall to make the little girl giggle further. Izzie followed her friend down the hall and watched her handle the little girl.

"I needs to go potty" Charlie exclaimed, Cristina stopped and put the little girl down in front of her.

"You can go by yourself right?" Charlie nodded while tugging at the small denim jacket she was wearing. "Izzie can you take her, I need to go and get Mr Jenkins blood-work an-"

"I can do the labs, Bailey left you with her remember" Cristina was at a loss for words and before she could protest Izzie had already taken the patient file from Cristina's hand and walked off. Cristina reluctantly took Charlie's hand and the pair walked off towards the intern's locker room. They soon arrived and the room was empty, Cristina had to ask Charlie a few times if she would be okay by herself, she didn't want Addison yelling at her for being irresponsible with her daughter.

Five minutes later the toilet flushed and the door opened, Cristina had been leaning against the wall but pulled herself away from it when she noticed Charlie, and the lack of clothes she was wearing. "Charlie, where are your pants, and t-shirt for that matter?" The little girl was only dressed in her denim jacket but nude otherwise. No one had warned Cristina that Charlie had a dislike for clothing so she was unsure what to do.

"Da clothes came off" She said bluntly as she walked out of the toilet, she had a nonchalant strut and Cristina was still in shock. The stubborn surgeon stepped into the toilet and picked up Charlie's clothes, the little suede had been abandoned too.

"Charlie come back here, I need to get your clothes back on" As soon as Charlie heard the word clothes she had already ran out of the locker room. Cristina dashed out behind her and chased the girl down the halls, she was glad Charlie couldn't run very fast however the three year old was particularly nimble. She was able to weave in and out of people who would stop and stare at the surgeon chasing the toddler.

Cristina eventually caught up to her and was able to get in front of her and stop her, Charlie ran into Cristina's legs and fell over, she tried scrambling away but Christina had already pulled her in. Charlie squirmed and it was hard enough getting her pants on without her wriggling about. Charlie grabbed her shirt out of Cristina's hands and kicked off her pants that were almost on, Cristina let out a frustrated sigh and watched as Charlie began to put her legs into the sleaves of her t-shirt.

"Yang what are you doing? And why is Charlie undressed?" Cristina looked up at Bailey in shock and began to stammer.

"She went to the bathroom and came out undressed then she ran off"

"Hand me the clothes" Cristina did as she was told and handed Bailey the clothes, Bailey scooped up the little girl and carried her into an empty room, dressing her almost instantly. Cristina was shocked but not surprised. Charlie clapped and began crawling around the room. "Yang I expect her to stay clothed" Cristina nodded and took Charlie by the hand and lead her out of the room and towards the cafeteria.

"Are you doing it right? I think you're doing it wrong, my daddy could do it better" Nathanial and William were sitting on an empty bed opposite Alex who was quickly losing his cool. The boys were no longer running around but every chance they got either one would question Alex or George's medical ability.

"Look kid I know what I'm doing, and I don't care if your dad could do it better coz I'm the one doing it now" Alex snapped and Nathanial quickly shut his mouth, he turned to his counterpart and whispered something to him and they both burst into fits of laughter. Alex ignored it and George just laughed to himself at the fact that the boys really weren't scared of him.

The boys had devised a plan to get away from Alex and George and were now putting it into action, slipping off the bed they walked up to George and tugged at his lab coat. "We're going to the bathroom okay?" William said, he wasn't really asking, more telling. Before O'Malley could say anything the boys had already ran out of the room and down the halls. The hospital was cramping their style and they just wanted to go outside however both of them knew that their parents would kill them if they left the hospital unattended. William and Nathanial were strolling down the halls, they almost had this strut going, and they were stopped when two hands landed on their shoulders. "Nate and Will, where are you two going?" They turned around and looked up at Richard Webber; he was almost like Nathanial's grandfather so they were on good terms.

"We're just exploring" Nathanial said as if it was nothing.

"Really, how about you two follow me we'll go see your daddy" Nathanial looked shocked; he didn't want his dad yelling at him.

Richard could see the shock in his eyes and chuckled. "You're not in trouble, trust me, come on boys" Richard took both William and Nathanial's hands and lead them towards the OR that Derek was in, they were going to watch him in surgery.

Down in the cafeteria Meredith had joined Cristina and Charlie at the table, Charlie was eating a pudding, most of it going around her mouth rather than in it and Meredith just laughed. "So Charlie what do you think of Cristina?"

"She is otay but she doesn't like to play" She shoved the spoon into her mouth again and Meredith just laughed even more.

"Did you hear that Cristina you're no fun to play with" Cristina just rolled her eyes while Meredith continued to have a conversation with Charlie.

No more than 10 minutes later did Addison enter the cafeteria dressed in blue scrubs, she walked up to the table and Charlie stood up on her chair and reached her arms out for her mother. Addison walked around to her and picked her up, wiping her mouth clean with a napkin in the process. "Hey Gummy bear how was Dr Yang?"

"She was otay, can we go home now?" Addison adjusted her daughter's hair and kissed her on the top of the head.

"In a second baby we just have to find Daddy and Nate" They didn't have to look far because Nathanial came running into the cafeteria with Derek, he had an ear to ear grin and looked like he had just had the best time of his life.

"Oh my god, I just watcheddaddyperformsurgeryitwassoawesome" He said without taking a breath, Addison just looked back and forth from Derek to her son, unsure of what he had just said.

"Slow down Nate, mommy can't understand you"

"Oh well I just watched daddy perform surgery it was soooooooo cool" Nathanial stood up on he cafeteria chair besides Meredith and gave a high five to his little sister.

"Ready to go?" Derek asked, Addison nodded, Charlie was dozing off in her arms and Nathanial was still extremely hyped up over the surgery. He had to retell the whole story of the days events on the way home and Addison and Derek just smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Addison set the little pots of paint down on the kitchen table that had been covered in newspaper; Charlie was kneeling on her chair and Nathanial picking up a paint brush. Addison and Derek while they had the day off work they were working on a case together that needed their undivided attention, they needed to keep their children occupied for at least a few hours. So here she was setting up the painting equipment for Charlie and Nathanial who were excited to be painting. It wasn't often they were allowed to paint inside.

"Alright will you two be fine for a couple of hours?"

Nathanial nodded and Charlie gave Addison a reassuring hug. She planted a motherly kiss on both of her children's heads before heading upstairs to resume her work. The children wasted no time in getting stuck into the paint; Charlie disliked using paintbrushes so she quickly changed to using her fingers. Nathanial stuck to paint brushes and began to paint pictures of his favourite super heroes, the drawings made slight resemblance but for a five year old they were fairly good. Charlie chose to just placed hand prints on her paper, the colours mixing together to make the horrible brown that came from mixing every colour together.

"Tanial can you help me wash my hands" Charlie climbed down from her seat and toddled over to the sink. Nathanial nodded and walked over to where his sister was standing, he wasn't tall enough to reach the sink and normally he would have asked either Addison or Derek for help but they had clearly said they did not want to be disturbed so he took it upon himself to help his baby sister.

Lifting her up she wavered a bit before gaining balance, her feet pressing on Nathanial's shoulders, he held her legs steady and held on, waiting for his sister to finish washing her hands. Charlie began humming Mary had a little lamb, a nursery rhyme she had become very fond of recently, when she went to turn off the tap she faltered and Nathanial nearly let go, her feet stumbled over her brother's body for the strong ground of his shoulder's. Every now and then Nathanial would get a foot in the mouth and he would wince with pain. It wasn't long before they were both sitting on the floor, water sprinkled on the floor and all Charlie could do was giggle insanely.

A few minutes later the children resumed their artistic hobby and painted, Charlie continuing to finger paint, Nathanial soon abandoning his paint brushes to join his sister, he had forgotten how fun finger painting was. Half an hour later both children were becoming bored with painting on paper, there were only so many drawings of spider-man one could do. Yet again Charlie jumped down from her chair and walked over to one of the blank walls in the house. Nathanial paid no attention to it but when his sister did not return to her chair he had to see what she was doing. Her fingers were still smeared in paint and the three year olds mind was working hard.

Before Nathanial could intervene a streak of blue paint was drawn on the wall by Charlie. He knew what she had just done was wrong but the pleading look his sister was giving him begged him to join. How was a five year old supposed to resist those looks? He just couldn't. Approaching his sister he dipped his index finger in the green paint and began to draw a tree on the landscape Charlie had created. Their innocence got the better of them when they both decided to turn the picture into one that depicted a happy family moment, there was no way their parents could get mad if it was something they made for them. At least that was the logic behind Nathanial's thinking.

After a while the mural was taking shape, Charlie had assisted Nathanial in drawing their parents and themselves, he gave his sister full creative licence when it came to painting her. She of course painted her stick figure version of herself in a fairy costume and Nathanial decided he would be in his favourite outfit, his Spider-man costume that he liked to wear whenever he had the chance, or whenever Addison or Derek would let him. Standing back from their masterpiece Nathanial smiled proudly down at his baby sister, who was slipping on the paint that had made its way onto the floor. Her paint smeared hands grabbed hold of her brother's arms and even though he tried to hold her up he began slipping and sliding all around the place as well. It wasn't long before both of the children were on the floor covered in all colours of the rainbow.

Addison had heard the crashing downstairs and had decided to go and inspect, padding down the stairs she noticed that both Charlie and Nathanial had abandoned their positions at the kitchen table but the small trail of paint left behind lead her to where they were. Her eyes didn't fall on them straight away but instead her jaw hung open in shock as she stared at what had become of the once white wall. "Derek get down here now!" She bellowed still in shock. Derek came down from upstairs quite quickly and joined his wife in utter shock as he too saw what became of the wall. They knew what the picture was of and it warmed there heart but it wasn't matching up to the anger they were feeling because of what their kids had done.

"Nathanial…how? Why?" That's all Addison could muster when she finally tore her eyes away from the wall to look down at her son who had blue paint smeared under each of his eyes, curtesy of his younger sister. Nathanial started feeling less happy and proud of his artwork when he saw both the expressions on his mother and father's features.

Pulling himself off the floor and his sister too his eyes sunk and so did his smile. He knew they would be in trouble. "I'm sorry mommy Charlie and I just wanted to paint you and daddy a picture" Charlie nodded her head vigorously still smiling but when she noticed her brother's expression she took his lead and nearly started crying. Derek could see what was going to happen with her daughter and while he was mad he didn't want her crying. Opening his arms for his daughter he watched as she ran into them, Addison just grimaced as red yellow and green paint now stained his shirt.

"Don't cry gummy bear but you should know that finger painting on the walls isn't the right thing to do" He ran his hair through his daughter's hair as she clung tightly to his neck.

"Dun you like the pitcher?" Charlie said in between shallow breaths, not only was she ready to cry but Addison also realised it was past her nap time. She always got a bit cranky by this time.

"Of course I do, it's beautiful but I would have liked it more if you did it on paper" Addison nodded in agreement with Derek, they couldn't exactly continue to be mad at their children when they put their heart and soul into a drawing of love intended for their parents.

"Okay you two, I think it's bath time, the last thing mommy and daddy need is paint all over the furniture. Come on kids" Addison instructed pointing upstairs. Nathanial ran upstairs being careful to not leave his prints anywhere and waited in the bathroom for his parents. Derek carried Charlie upstairs and when he went to set her down on the floor besides her brother she wouldn't let go. He motioned with his head for Addison to do the water while he took care of their mischievous children.

Once the water was ready the children stripped down and hopped into the bath, the water instantly turning a murky shade of mixed colours as the paint came away from their skin. Addison and Derek scrubbed both children down, being sure to get rid of the paint everywhere. Charlie had managed to get paint in her belly button and Nathanial paint all down his back; they were amazed at some of the feats their children could succeed. After their bodies were paint free Derek drained the water and refilled the tub with clean water, Charlie and Nathanial were quite happily playing with their various bath toys. "Nate go easy on the battle ship you're splashing me" Derek said putting his hands up as a shield as Nathanial purposefully splashed him, Charlie giggling insanely as her brother did so.

"Okay okay can I trust you two to be okay by yourselves while I help your mom clean up downstairs?" Nathanial nodded and smiled angelically. Derek arched an eyebrow before letting out a frustrated sigh and placed a kiss on both of his munchkins heads. They both remained still until Derek had left the room and then they were both up to the antics again. Water was flying around the room as Nathanial sent waves flying into his little sister who would squeal then send miniature splashes his way. Needless to say they were both having quite a bit of fun. That was until bubbles were added to the equation, Nathanial grabbed the bubble bath and squired most of it in and then handed the bottle to Charlie who squirted the remained of the bubble bath into the water.

When bubbles didn't start to form Nathanial turned on both the taps and forgetting all about the water being on he played in the bubbles. It was lucky Addison came upstairs when she did otherwise the whole of the bathroom could have been flooded. As soon as she opened the bathroom door she could see leaving her two kids alone with each other was a recipe for disaster. Rushing over to the taps she quickly shut them off while both Charlie and Nathanial looked at her with an equally bewildered expression. "Okay, I think bath time is over" Addison said offering a small smile as she grabbed their towels and held them out for them.

Nathanial got out first and draped himself in his Mickey Mouse towel, his wet auburn hair matted down to his head, Addison lifted Charlie out of the tub and began to dry her off and as soon as she was the least bit dry the three year old did a runner. She bounded out of the bathroom laughing hysterically while Addison just rolled her eyes and sighed before walking out of the bathroom in search of the three year old. Who had managed to run downstairs and past her father who was scrubbing at the wall. Derek cocked his head back and watched as his daughter nude figure dashed past. He laughed to himself and went after her, finding her trying to scramble under the couch, one of her favourable hiding spots.

Grabbing her by the legs he gently pulled her out and gave her a once over. "Alright little Miss I think we should get you into your pj's" She shook her head in disagreement but that didn't bother Derek because he had thrown her over his shoulder and was already heading upstairs. Addison had her hands placed on her hips holding Charlie's stripy pj's in one hand, her daughter nuzzled her head into Derek's side as if she was scared but she wasn't going to escape this time. Laying her down on her bed he held her still while Addison dressed her, most of the time it wasn't a two man job but this afternoon that little piggy was being quite the rebel.

Nathanial on the other hand took it upon himself to get dressed by himself, and guess what he dressed himself in. Yes that's right his Spider-man costume. Walking into Charlie's bedroom with the masked pulled over his features he jumped onto her bed besides her. Charlie clapped her hands in glee and Derek pulled his son down onto the bed with him and Charlie, ticklefest was about to begin. Addison joined the playful threesome and tried to protect her baby girl from the dangers of Derek's tickling hands but he wasn't afraid to get her and so it turned into an all out war. Nathanial tried to protect his mother and sister, mimicking Spider-man's actions in the process but Derek was a lot bigger than the five year old and didn't have to do much to overpower him.

A little yawn emerged from Charlie's mouth and Addison looked down at her daughter's tired figure, her eyelids were becoming heavy and it was definitely time for her nap. "Alright I think this little one needs a nap and I also think Nate you could do with one too" Addison made the motions to tuck Charlie in and she obediently obliged, her tiny legs crawling under the pink covers as she reached for her stuffed panda, hugging it closely. Nathanial stood his ground, not wanting to have nap time but Derek picked him up so that Charlie could get comfortable as she soon fell asleep. Addison ushered the boys out of her room and looked at her son carefully.

"I'm not tired mommy, see I can stay up, please?" Derek had taken off his Spider-man mask and his hair was up at all ends and Addison could see the drowsiness in his eyes. He tried to remain strong but he soon yawned and that was Nathanial's downfall. He rested his head against Derek's shoulder and yawned again. His eyes half closing, Derek carried the boy to his bedroom and let him clamber into his bed. Handing his son his Spider-Man figurine he kissed him before he soon drifted off to sleep as well. Heading back downstairs to where Addison was clearing up what was left from their children's journey into art he began to help her.

"Those kids I love them but they really are a handful" Derek said taking a palette of paint and stacking it with the rest of the art supplies.

"The picture was great it was just a shame we had to wash it off, had they done it on paper I would have framed it and kept it" Addison said sighing and walking over to Derek, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

"They meant well, they just need to learn that the walls are not what you're supposed to paint on. Oh and Nathanial is going to be shattered when he notices he's getting too big for his Spider-man costume" Derek said holding his wife close to him.

"Yeah I know, he is getting so big and Charlie too, what are we going to do when he goes to school?" Addison said not wanting to admit her son was growing up.

"The house will be quiet, that's a scary thought"


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie was happily dancing in front of the TV, her favourite afternoon program was on; The Wiggles. Addison was amazed at her ability to remember the words to almost all of the songs and dance along to the Wiggles dances. It definitely held the three year olds attention and she was a dedicated fan. Derek and Addison had bought her several DVD's that she would watch constantly on the weekends when she could see the colourful foursome on TV at their scheduled time. Setting herself down on the couch she placed a hand on her pregnant belly, a third child, Addison was unsure of how things would turn out but she would love this baby none the less. Both children were excited about it and asked many questions to do with their new sibling, mainly whether or not it would be a boy or a girl.

Addison had her suspicions, and just like the previous two children she preferred to find out when they were being born. Derek kept teasing her with the idea of twins and every time he did she would slap his arm. Her intuition was saying it would be a boy, but nothing was set in stone. Richard, her other father had made her take maternity leave early. Of course she hated the idea, she refused to leave the premises when he had said it was time for her to take some time off and rest up before the baby was born, but at six months into the pregnancy she was still very capable of working. However both Derek and Richard thought it would be in the baby's best interests if she rested up. Three months of rest was not exactly what she called fun, she would have preferred being in surgery but no those two men had put their foot down and she was now at home for the duration of her pregnancy.

While she was instructed to keep her stress levels down it was hard when she was looking after two children, and on top of that worrying about Nathanial while he was at school. The five year old had only been going for a week and was getting used to it, at first he didn't want to go because he missed Charlie and Charlie missed him but when he started making friends it became easier. For him at least, Addison on the other hand still missed her baby boy, even if he was no longer a baby. At that very moment he came bounding down the stairs with his tie wrapped around his forehead, still in his uniform. Clutched tightly in his hands were his Spider-man and Dr Octopus figurines, he went running out into the backyard to continue the battle.

A yawn escaped Addison's mouth, she was definitely worn out from the day's events but she needed to remain awake until Derek came home, he had said he would be home by six, but she knew the reality was that he would only meet that deadline if there was no emergencies and as a surgeon she knew there weren't many days that didn't involve emergencies. Charlie noticed her mother's tiredness and skipped over to her side. Crawling under Addison's arm she peppered kisses all over her face and smiled innocently, her eyes sparkled and Addison couldn't help but smile when she saw the same charming eyes her husband had. "Mommy are you sleepy?" She said putting emphasis on 'sleepy'. The three year old burrowed her head into her mother's shoulder and Addison watched with a smile.

"No I'm not baby" She said, her statement would have held up if she hadn't yawned again. Charlie could be fooled once but you couldn't put another one past her, she was quick witted and in the future she would most definitely be very cunning, but right now she was little and innocent. "Is the baby making you tired?" Charlie said, popping her head up from Addison's shoulder and looking at her expanding abdomen. Addison nodded her head lazily and kissed the top of Charlie's head, the baby was definitely wearing her down, and it would be double the exhaustion after it was born too.

Charlie crawled out from underneath her mother's arm and ran to the edge of the living room before Addison looked at her cautiously. "I is gonna read to you mommy" Charlie said still smiling, before Addison could protest she had already dashed around the corner and was bounding up the stairs to her bedroom. Addison was dozing off but she was soon woken when she heard Charlie and Nathanial racing into the living room. The three year old had recruited her older brother in the story telling adventures, his part was to act out the story as his sister demanded. She once again scampered onto the couch and pulled the book out from under her arm. "I'm gonna read you Cinderella" Addison gave a slight laugh, because it was Charlie's favourite story and she demanded Derek read it to her every night, even though she couldn't read she would know that story by heart.

"Tanial is gonna act out the story" Charlie said excitedly as Nathanial began preparing himself, he was told that he would play all the character's and while he wasn't fond of acting as a girl he would do it for Charlie. Addison nodded and rested her hands on her belly and waited patiently for Charlie to start. The three year old opened the book awkwardly and examined the picture; the text was just gibberish to her. "Once pon time there was a girl named Cinderella" Addison giggled as Nathanial began pretending to be Cinderella, he had taken Charlie's Dora the Explorer blanket and was using it as a dress so that the audience would get the idea. "She lived with her two evil tep sisters, who were very very mean" Charlie pointed to the picture to show Addison just how mean the step sisters were.

Addison slowly began to drift off as the story progressed; Nathanial was switching between the prince and Cinderella as they danced and Charlie continued the story. Addison loved the gesture but she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. When Addison finally drifted off the children draped her in a blanket and went off to play quietly. Not long after Addison fell asleep did Derek come through the door, Charlie was the first to run into Derek's arm and he grabbed her in a bear hug then picked her up and put her on his shoulders, nonchalantly walking over to his son he looked down at him, matching his serious gaze, it was a game they played often.

"Howdy partner, I don't think I've seen you around these parts before" Derek imitating a southern drawl as he spoke to the five year old, who now had his arms folded over his chest, he was trying to keep a straight face but as soon as Derek put on his southern accent Nathanial was gone, when Derek could see he was cracking he picked up the boy in one arm and carried him into the living room where he noticed Addison sleeping on the couch. "What did you kids do to mommy?" Charlie was first to respond.

"I read her Cinderella and Tanial acted!" She was definitely excited about that portion of the day and Derek was surprised at what his children did for their mother. "Really? Wow you kids did all that for your mom, okay I think I should take mommy up to bed and then I'll come and make you guys a snack" Setting the children back down on the floor he went to get Addison, he woke her gently before leading her upstairs to their bedroom. A few minutes later Derek came back down and found both Nathanial and Charlie sitting at the kitchen table, they were never usually this good but he was guessing they would want something.

"Okay what do you two want?" The five year old glanced at his younger sister and they both looked back at their father with cheeky grins on their faces.

"Daddy can we have fruit loops?"

"Fruit loops? You know your mom hates it when you two get hyped up on sugar before dinner" Derek was unable to resist their charming smiles, which they had both inherited from him, part of him was hoping their third child wouldn't be inheriting that same charm, at least that way he'd be able to resist their pleas. Both Nathanial and Charlie went into begging mode and the last thing he wanted was for them to beg, so after giving them each a bowl of fruit loops he watched as they ate them up. The sugar high came quickly and both the five year old and the three year old were bouncing off the walls.

The kids were desperate to go and visit Addison in bed and Derek was unable to control them so he followed them upstairs as they bounded into the bedroom. Addison was sound asleep in the bed but she soon woke up when both Charlie and Nathanial jumped onto the bed besides her. Derek stood in the doorway watching, hoping Addison wouldn't mind. "Hey you two, what are you doing here?"

"Daddy gave us fruit loops and we wanted to visit!" Nathanial exclaimed snuggling in besides his mother.

"Is that so? Derek, fruit loops before dinner?" Derek cringed as she directed the question at him.

"They used their McDreamy smiles and I couldn't resist, they'll be fine Addie, what about you? How are you and junior holding up?"

"Derek I told you we're not naming the baby junior" Derek smiled and joined the trio on the corner of the bed, Charlie crawling into his lap. "You don't like that name do you baby" She said cooing softly to her stomach, Nathanial looked at Addison and then at her stomach. "Mommy can the baby hear you?"

"Yea dinosaur it can, you can speak to it if you want" Nathanial's eyes lit up, it was easy to see that he was excited about the prospect of speaking to his baby brother or sister. He leaned in closer to Addison's stomach and looked back up at his mother for approval, she just smiled and he continued.

"Hey baby, you're gonna like it here, I can teach you about Spider-man, he's this really cool super hero who was bitten by a spider and then he got cool spider powers." Addison wasn't surprised that her son chose to speak about Spider-man, he knew so much about it and insisted Derek buy him the comics, even though he could barely read he still liked looking at the pictures. "Yeah and he has heaps of enemies, like Doc Oc and Venom and Carnage, oh and then there's Rhino, and Mary Jane, but she's Spider-man's girlfriend...ick" Addison and Derek both laughed at their son's reaction to girls, typical of a five year old boy.

"I wanna speak to the baby" Charlie exclaimed, escaping Derek's lap and crawling over to Addison, Addison shook her head and glanced at Derek and he just shrugged. "Baby do you like Dora the Explorer?" Addison put a hand on Charlie's head and smiled. "I don't think the baby knows what Dora the Explorer is sweetie, maybe you should explain it" Charlie nodded and then looked up at the ceiling, a sign that she was concentrating.

Following in Nathanial's actions she leaned forward and rested one of her tiny palms on Addison's abdomen. "Dora is this girl who splores the jungle with her monkey friend, an the best part is you gets to help her splore, she asks you for help, an once I gots to help her take a fishy back to the sea to its mommy and daddy-" before she could continue Nathanial interjected.

"Forget Dora, Spider-man is way cooler, he shoots web from his hands and swings from buildings and fights bad guys to save the world!" Addison could see this turning into an argument and she didn't want it to escalate, but the baby was definitely reacting to it's older siblings, because it was kicking each time either Charlie or Nathanial would speak.

"But Dora splores!" Charlie said now standing up in the bed, Derek decided to intervene and prevent the brother and sister from fighting further. Grabbing his daughter he began to tickle her vigorously and sure enough she erupted in giggles. Nathanial jumped to his sister's rescue and Addison just watched as Derek pinned his son down and started blowing raspberries on his stomach, even though he wouldn't admit it, Nathanial enjoyed it. Addison took Charlie in her arms and began tickling her on the neck; the room was full of laughter.

The children were coming down from their sugar high and Derek could see Nathanial becoming worn down, as he stopped tickling him the boy took a few deep breaths before rolling over on his stomach and yawning. When Charlie saw her older brother yawn she yawned as well and Addison could see that the two kids would crash soon and be quite temperamental but if they were able to get them to sleep before that time came everything would be fine. Addison began to rub slow circles on Charlie's back and her head flopped onto her shoulder, her eyelids hanging and Nathanial crawled under the covers besides his mom and she wrapped an arm around him.

"I'm thinking that you three wait four need to get some sleep" Derek said smiling.

"What about you? What will you do while we sleep?" Addison said curiously.

"I could make dinner or I don't know sleep with you" Both Nathanial and Charlie were dozing off and Addison smiled at her husband, nodding slowly she made room for her husband who tucked himself under the covers besides Nathanial, running his fingers through his oldest child's hair.

"I think that's a great idea" Leaning over to Addison he kissed her softly on the temple before placing a kiss on each of his children's heads, and one on Addison's belly. "Sleep well baby" He said before sinking his head back into the pillows.


	6. Chapter 6

Nine month old Archer Thomas Shepherd sat in his playpen completely enthralled by his brightly coloured toys. Charlie stood guard outside; she was an obedient big sister that enjoyed playing with her younger brother and was somewhat protective of him. The new family member had been welcomed by open arms, Nathanial had one more sibling to look out for which he didn't mind, not only that but it was another boy which meant another person he could discuss his beloved Spider-man with. Addison was sitting on the couch watching as the three year old stood watch over her nine month old baby brother. She had wriggled her way out of a day of work unfortunately her husband was trapped in a gruelling surgery and had warned her that he may not be home in time to put Archer to bed.

Nathanial was watching his afternoon cartoons, he demanded silence in the room, he didn't mind the occasional gurgle from his baby brother however when he began to whine he too became cranky, Addison decided that moving into the back room while her five year old son watched Spider-man would be best, carrying the gurgling baby boy in her arms she looked over her shoulder every now and then only to see Charlie following behind, dragging a little red wagon full of various toys, many of which belonged to Archer. "Hey what are all those for?" Addison said slowing down so she could walk at the same pace as the toddling three year old.

"They for Archy" She was beaming proudly when they finally entered the raucous room, Addison put Archer down on the floor and watched as he crawled around, swatting at the various brightly coloured blocks that were before him. Charlie began to unload the red wagon, giving her brother some of the toys to play with but he wasn't so keen on some of them and just turned to crawl away. Addison sat down in the rocking chair to the corner of the room, taking out a magazine to read whilst her youngest children played. It wouldn't be long before she had to put both of them down for a nap, and Nathanial too even though he insisted he no longer needed nap time because he was a big boy and went to school. However when his brother and sister were down he tried to remain awake but always found himself sleepy.

Charlie was happy playing with her brother that was the spitting image of Derek; he even had his own McDreamy smile much to Derek's dismay. Soft brown curls were starting to form at the nape of his neck and Addison wanted nothing more to than just hug him all day however he became irritated quickly when crowded. Charlie quickly skipped out of the room, her mother though nothing of it and just assumed she had gone to find her own abundance of toys. Returning minutes later with her Dora the Explorer backpack slung around one shoulder she padded across the floor until she was sitting directly in front of Archer who was busy sucking on his rattle. Addison didn't pay much attention to what it was Charlie was emptying out of her bag, little did she realise that the three year old had stumbled across her mommy's makeup collection.

Charlie had intended on bringing toys back to the room but when she was on her journey she saw Addison's bag perched on a chair in the kitchen, being the curious one that she was she decided to take a look. For her age she was quite inquisitive and after having found what she considered the jackpot, lipstick, eyeliners, blush, rouge it was all there and she took it all. Emptying out her previous contents of her bag and replacing it with all of Addison's high priced makeup. She sat there now looking at the pile of makeup artefacts, deciding which one be used best on her baby brother. Archer was interested in the assortment of products piled on the floor as well, so when she brought the blush to his cheeks he didn't object. Instead he just gurgled happily.

She continued about her business and decided it was time she play with the lipstick. Opening it and raising the lipstick out of its case she asked Archer quietly to hold still, he did for about a few seconds, she had enough time to get one dot on his lips before he turned his head and it smeared across his cheek. That didn't bother him but he began to crawl away in his mother's direction. Addison put down her magazine and looked at her son, her jaw quickly dropping. "Charlie where did you get my makeup from?" She wasn't mad per say, she picked the baby up and looked at him in horror, he didn't mind, he had absolutely no idea what was going on but he would definitely need a bath.

"You left it on the chair" She said still playing innocent, not really playing considering she really was innocent. The three year old only looked up for a couple of seconds before returning to playing with her dolls, about to use Addison's makeup on her Barbie, that was until Addison picked up the bag and held it tightly. That caused some suspicion within the toddler and resulted at her looking up at Addison with a bemused expression. Holding Archer in one arm and sliding the small backpack over the other Addison started heading towards the stairs in order to give her son his bath. Charlie started following behind her mother.

Addison could hear the tiny footsteps behind her and decided to speak as she walked. "You know it's wrong to play with mommy's makeup right?"

"Yes mommy, I is sorry, but Archy looked purdy" The three year old had quickly coined a nick name for her younger brother that was much easier for her to say. Addison sighed and entered the bathroom, taking the baby bath from the floor she placed it in the basin at the vanity and began to fill it with luke warm water. Archer gurgled and nuzzled his head into Addison's shoulder, causing the blush to rub off on her cashmere sweater, it didn't bother her so much however it would just be one more thing for her to wash.

Testing the water with her hand the doting mother decided the water was the perfect temperature for her baby boy. Undressing the baby she handed the jumpsuit he was wearing to Charlie who had quickly become the helper at bath times, just like Nathanial had helped when Charlie was a baby. Gently lowering Archer into the water he quickly gurgled and began splashing, he did enjoy bath time but often it was quite a messy chore. Whenever Derek attempted bath time he came out looking as though he had the bath and not Archer. Dampening the wash cloth Addison was careful to not irritate his skin as she began washing off the makeup. Charlie had pulled up a little step stool and was now overseeing the bath.

Archer definitely did not like having his face wiped, his once smiling face contorted into one of a grumpy frown, Addison could see where this was going to lead but she couldn't help it, the lipstick was still all over his cheeks and it needed to be cleaned off. Just as she had predicted the baby boy started to cry, Charlie acted out of habit and covered her ears whilst Addison attempted to sooth her son. Nathanial had heard the crying from downstairs and came to inspect, leaping up the stairs, two at a time he ventured into the bathroom. He walked over to where his sister had situated herself and stood on his toes to watch what his mom was doing to his brother, she was attempting to clean his face and at the same time calm him down.

"What's wrong with Archer mom?" Nathanial said looking up at his mom before back at his brother, offering the infant his Spider-man figurine in a hope to cheer him up. The boy refused and continued to wail.

"Charlie decided he'd look pretty with makeup and now I'm trying to clean it off and he doesn't like it. Hey Dinosaur think you could go get Archer a clean change of clothes?" Nathanial nodded in compliance and dashed out of the bathroom, briskly heading towards the nursery to retrieve his baby brother's clothes. Grabbing a diaper from the changing table and then a tiger striped jumpsuit he went back into the bathroom. Where Addison was now holding the baby boy in her arms, wrapped in a towel.

Charlie was happily standing by on her step stool, every now and then tucking Archer's chubby little arm back into the towel. Nathanial handed the diaper and jumpsuit to his mother and smiled. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind for dressing Archer in but it would do. Carefully drying him off she began getting him dressed, Charlie wanted to help and Addison kindly let her do up his diaper however Archer had other ideas and started to become fussy. Sighing Addison took over and relaxed the disagreeable baby boy who was now content in his mother's arms. Nathanial and Charlie were eager to continue helping but the strong willed surgeon insisted it would be better if she handled it.

The children had resumed play time in the raucous room, Archer was back in his play pen having a grand old time after having been fed, and Addison sat in the rocking chair to the corner of the room and proceeded to read numerous medical journals. Nathanial had crept into the play pen with his baby brother and was now trying to play Spider-man with him, however Archer didn't exactly understand the concept of good vs. evil yet, nor did he quite understand the concept of anything. Nathanial had given him his Venom action figure and was now trying to establish a story line that was going right over the 9 month olds head.

"Okay so Venom came back from the rocket ship and is still infected with the symbiote and Spidey is gonna save the world okay?" He got no response but he understood that his brother couldn't speak. He went about playing and was ready to battle Venom however Venom had ventured into Archer's mouth and there was baby drool dripping all over Nathanial's figuring. "Awwww gross moooooom Archer is eating Venom" He whined looking to his mother for assistance. Addison looked down and sighed; picking the baby out of the play pen she gently took the toy from his mouth and handed it to Nathanial who was currently grimacing.

"Dinosaur what have I told you about giving Archer your toys, you know he's too small to play with him" Nathanial quickly apologised then ran towards the bathroom in order to wash his figurines that he was carrying far in front of him as if they were infested with a disease. Archer was back in his play pen and crawling around, Charlie was getting bored with her dolls that she has started drawing on with markers; one of her Barbie's now had a multitude of tattoos on her face.

The three year old nimbly stood on her tippee toes and opened the play pen gate; Archer saw this and was ready to make his great escape. He had a large grin on his face and began crawling towards the exit, Charlie saw this and went to stop him but he managed to evade the three year old who was scared of tripping over him. She soon began chasing after him around the room, her curly brown locks bouncing up and down in the process. "Mommy he's getting away" She squealed still chasing the baby, Addison looked up and laughed, Archer was turning out to be the most mischievous of them all. He always liked to play the great escape and in his teens he probably would have mastered it.

Walking over to where Archer was crawling towards she kneeled down and picked up the energetic baby, cradling him in her arms she looked at Charlie and planted a kiss on top of her head. She was about to suggest they put Archer down for bed but she soon heard the front door opening and that could only mean one thing. "Come on, lets go meet daddy" She said but Charlie had already run out of the room. Derek had been able to escape the hospital earlier than expected and was in time for dinner which was a rarity at this time of year.

"Where are my three little animals?" Derek said standing in the foyer of the house waiting for a greeting, sure enough Charlie sprinted into his arms, tackling his legs, and Nathanial was next who just stood waiting to be picked up by his father. "I've got 2 out of 3, Gummy-bear, Dinosaur and where's the other one?" He said looking around, Charlie had manoeuvred herself around Derek's neck and Nathanial was being held against his hip. Addison nonchalantly walked in holding Archer in her arms and smiled. "There we go, now I have all three, Gummy-bear, Dinosaur and Tiger" He smiled at Addison who sighed, he was the one who thought of all these pet names and they just managed to stick.

He approached his wife and kissed her, gaining a procession of 'eww's' from Nathanial and Charlie, he then kissed Archer on top of his head, he reached out for his father and Derek reluctantly put Nathanial down who didn't mind. Archer clung to the collar of his father's shirt and Addison took Charlie from his shoulders and continued to carry her. "You're just in time to put him to bed" Addison said smiling, Derek reciprocated, he had missed putting his son down to bed for almost a week as well as his other children and he was looking forward to tucking them all in that night.


End file.
